Tours Travel

Go Mobile in Botswana

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If you’ve ever dismissed Botswana as an impossible dream, think again. It’s not all chic designer safari lodges where you pay up to £400 a night for the luxury of air-conditioned tents the size of barns. You can still have the safari of your life for half the price and get up close to the real Africa.

As? Mobile camp safaris are the answer, as I just discovered on a wonderful eight-night tour through the Moremi Game Reserve with Letaka Safaris. Letaka is the Setswana word for the tall phragmite reeds that grow around the margins of the Delta lagoons, hence the company name chosen by Brent and Grant Reed, also known as the Letaka Brothers.

Now in their early 30s, the couple grew up in South Africa, where they developed a passion for birds and snakes, but always dreamed of the big game found in neighboring Botswana.

Today, Botswana is their home, and with either Brent or Grant as their guide, Letaka Safaris is becoming synonymous with seeing the wild Africa the way it was meant to be seen, sleeping under a tarpaulin with a mobile camping crew that really knows the ropes. .

There were six of us on the safari: my wife and I, my brother and his wife, and a couple of friends we had known for years. Together we did the perfect numbers to fill the open Toyota Land-Cruiser waiting for us on the dusty Xakanaxa airstrip.

Here we met Letaka’s older brother Brent, who would be our guide and driver, and together we set off through the dry September forests to our first camp at Bodumatau, the place where the lion roars.

My wife and I are safari veterans, but the others were new to mobile camps and I saw them staring in dismay at the dull brown, travel-stained tents in which they would sleep for the next eight nights. The expression on his face said it all. Oh Lord!

I could almost hear their thoughts as they ducked through the doors to inspect their stores. Each one was tall enough to stand upright and furnished with two beds but nothing else, leaving enough space for her suitcases. Outside, under the awning, were a few basic necessities: canvas sinks, khaki towels, and a mirror, and behind each tent, protected by a canvas wall on poles, was the luxury of a private bathroom with a throne. of plastic. Don’t go outside with a torch and a roll of toilet paper on this safari!

And little by little, one by one, I could see my safari companions relax. It was (for them) the unexpected happiness of a hot bucket shower that started it. Then the magic of campfire drinks kicked in, as sparks flew to join the stars and owls twittered in the velvety darkness. And finally, the lamplight dinner, a three-course dinner with a sumptuous chicken casserole for the main course, accompanied by excellent South African wines that tasted all the better because they were included in the price.

No one, myself included, had ever counted on eating so well on a mobile safari. But that was because Brent had hired Frank Nkiwane to cook for us. Frank, a big and jovial Zimbabwean, learned his trade from him at an Italian restaurant in Bulawayo, and for my money he is the best bush chef in Botswana.

In total, we stayed in three private camps and each one was different. Our first camp at Dumatau was set up in a raspberry grove overlooking a lagoon where ospreys screeched and hippos grunted beyond the reeds. Our second camp was in the shade of a camelthorn acacia forest not far from the Khwai River with its bateleur eagles, malachite kingfishers and herds of breeding elephants. And at Maya Pools, our last campsite, overlooked by a sausage tree whose crimson blossoms carpeted the ground, we saw a handsome male leopard and were visited in broad daylight by a magnificent old lion, one of Dead Tree Pride’s two resident males. . .

By the end of the trip, they had all become mobile campers. They had learned that a vacation stripped of all the trivia and unnecessary frills can be just as sweet as any five-star lodging experience; that a tent is simply a safe place to sleep and store your gear while you live outdoors in the sun and wind, sharing the boundless forests and floodplains of Moremi with the lions and elephants that roamed nearly every night. nights at our camp.

Above all, what my safari companions discovered were the true luxuries of mobile camping; not just the hot showers and cool sunsets, same-day laundry and magnificent meals Frank conjured up on beds of hot wood ash, but also the priceless joys of exclusive camping, the total freedom that comes with having your own own private vehicle, and hiring one of Botswana’s most respected guides to reveal the magic of Moremi.

http://www.aardvarksafaris.com/articles-botswana-mobile.htm

Technology

Buy jumping horses to prepare for the show ring

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If you’re thinking of competing in rated shows like Hunter Jumper A and B, you’ll want to do everything you can to be fully prepared. Not only do you need to be prepared, but your horse does too, and that means exposing him to as many jumps as possible. There is nothing worse than entering the show ring and having your horse refuse at the first jump. Even if you don’t have a very spooky horse, it’s a good idea to expose him to a wide range of jumping so you both know what to expect. Here are some things to add to your boot camp.

Liverpool

It is incredibly important to have a Liverpool at home if you plan to compete in high level show jumping or horse riding. Even the sturdiest horses tend to look closely at waterfalls. A good alternative to water is to have a blue tarp that you can spread out under the jump.

brick wall

The brick walls are actually wooden boxes painted to look like bricks. Bright colors and solid features can sometimes scare horses away.

rollable

Roll tops are made of wood and can be found painted in a range of colours. However, horse shows usually have roll-up canopies covered with green artificial grass.

flower boxes and brushes

You should have many flower boxes and brushes with a variety of artificial flowers of different colors for each box.

Planks and Doors

Planks and gates are great for completing jumps and creating a different look for each obstacle. Make sure they are varied in both color and design.

Once you have all these extra jumps, remember to change them regularly. You want your horse to see new jumps all the time, so by changing boxes, rearranging the course, and adding new florets, you’re giving yourself the best chance of doing well once you get to the show arena. On a final note, remember to practice jumping over very plain white fences too, sometimes those are the scariest!

Business

Understanding Healthcare Exchanges: The Basics

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Healthcare exchanges are a hot topic in the news today, but many people do not have a proper understanding of what these organizations are, what they offer, and how to use them effectively. This guide will help the layman gain a deeper and more practical understanding of the process and its purposes.

Healthcare exchanges are also known as health exchanges and health insurance marketplaces. These organizations help those who use them to buy health insurance in their local region. Typically, when people refer to a health care exchange, they describe organizations particular to each state in the United States. These organizations were formed because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This helps citizens by consolidating health care plans from multiple insurance companies that meet government regulations and standards in one place for easy comparison. They also help citizens identify which plans are available with the help of government subsidies.

Health care exchanges are an important part of the Affordable Care Act (sometimes called Obama Care). They create a single marketplace for Americans, allowing them to compare and contrast different plans in terms of coverage, cost, benefits, and financial help. All insurance policies that are part of a government-regulated health care exchange must offer certain features. For example, they cannot deny coverage to individuals or families based on pre-existing conditions. They must also offer a benefits package that includes basic coverage for health-related emergencies, as well as adequate coverage for preventative care.

Insurance companies that participate in a health care exchange also cannot discriminate based on gender. This is an important consideration due to the different health care needs of men and women; insurance companies cannot charge either gender more under these regulations. Also, insurance companies that participate in these markets cannot impose annual spending limits when it comes to basic benefits. These benefits include all emergency services, necessary hospitalization (in case of surgery, for example), maternity services such as maternity care and newborn services, substance abuse treatment, psychological and psychiatric counseling and medical services, and prescription drugs. . In addition, they must cover rehabilitation and habilitation for those with disabilities, chronic diseases or conditions, or injuries as part of their basic coverage. Laboratory tests, pediatric medicine and wellness medical services are also required coverage. These basic benefits are considered essential benefits by the health care exchange.

People in the United States are required to have health insurance coverage, due to the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act. This provision is sometimes referred to by different names, including the mandatory minimum coverage requirement or the shared responsibility requirement. However, regardless of the name, it indicates that those who are not covered will be subject to a penalty or fee starting at around one hundred dollars per year. It can cost up to one percent of a person’s income if you choose not to get health insurance that meets the government’s minimum requirements. Choosing healthcare through a healthcare exchange is often the best and easiest way to avoid this fee.

Home Kitchen

Kitchen lighting ideas and kitchen design lights

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A center-ceiling-mounted light is certainly not enough because it causes shadows when standing in front of task boards, and furthermore, you can’t create special ambient lighting with it.

In this article, we’ll give you an overview of the different lights you can use in your kitchen that could enhance your kitchen lighting. For each type of lighting fixture, we’ll also recommend a few designer lights to show how they will enhance your personal kitchen style with a unique look.

Let’s start with uniform lighting in your kitchen first. We typically have kitchen cabinets, a kitchen island, and an eating area within our kitchen. Instead of one ceiling fixture in the center of the ceiling, it is much more convenient to install four or six recessed cans. The Fabbian Beluga Crystal F01, for example, has a 360° movable lamp head so light can be easily directed where you need it.

But not all of us have the possibility to change the existing power lines in our home. You may want to look at track lighting fixtures as an alternative. Those only need one termination, but have plenty of turn signals that can be placed anywhere along the track. Track accessories are available in various sizes, colors, and shapes (U-shaped track accessories may be the best option for larger kitchens). Also, there are two different types of track systems: low voltage track lights and line voltage track lights. The first comes along with a transformer; the latter has none and can be applied to house line voltage. The Fabbian Beluga lighting family also offers contemporary track lights.

Most families prefer to hang lamps over the dining room table or kitchen island. One of this year’s lighting trends follows that pattern and includes oversized dome-shaped pendant lights. From Flos Skygarten, Alt Lucialternative Coupole S, Marset Olivia, Artemide Nur, Aureliano Toso Bow, Terzani Magdalena 50, Prandina Biluna to Catellani & Smith Stchu-Moon: many lighting designers prefer the elegant hemispherical lampshade with moderate reflections in the material used or the visible inner shadow.

These large hanging lamps create a special, warm and illuminated atmosphere in your kitchen. But on the other hand, they block the view of your kitchen cabinet. Some lighting designers have already considered this problem and created pendant lamps with shallow shades. The Alt Lucialternative Infinity pendant light, for example, has a unique modern shade that reminds me of a trifoliate cloverleaf. The outer shade is alternately made of black or white metal, the inner one is made of Acryl and has a spiral look. The understated Metalarte Zero hanging lamp also fits into modern kitchens. It provides bright ambient lighting and its proportions convey the impression of a UFO. The Prandina Extra S1/3 hanging lamp consists of two curved casings, the upper one reflects the atmosphere of the room, while the lower one provides direct lighting.

The possibilities in lighting design seem to be endless. So take your time and be enchanted by the unique appearance of modern and contemporary designer lighting.

Auto

Top 5 benefits of riding a charter bus

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If you plan to take a group trip, you can have many benefits by hiring a charter bus. In this way you can enjoy a large number of benefits. Below are 5 main benefits. Read on to learn more.

Eco-friendly travel

It is the responsibility of all of us to keep our environment clean and free from pollution. This is one way to stay healthy, since the air we breathe must be clean. If you travel by bus, you will spend much less fuel per head. A fully loaded car consumes 5 times more fuel than a fully loaded rented bus. So if you travel by bus, you can protect the environment, which is good.

Eliminate stress

It can be stressful to drive to new places on your own. You may come across crazy drivers who are always trying to cut you off. Therefore, it is difficult to keep many cars together, honking their horns in traffic jams. In this scenario, you are more prone to accidents.

On the other hand, if you hire a charter bus, you will travel with an expert driver who knows the roads better. So, your mind is at ease throughout your journey. Therefore, you can relax and enjoy your trip. After all, you don’t want to go through all the stress when you go on tour with a band. Your purpose is to have fun. Therefore, renting a bus is a good idea.

Highest security rating

Compared to traveling alone, you may not be at greater risk of an accident when traveling with a group in a vehicle. The fact is that the drivers of the chartered buses know the latest safety procedures, so they do their best to follow the rules of the road and stay safe.

Save money

The cost of traveling on a charter bus is much less than traveling alone. The math is simple. The total cost is divided among all passengers, so the cost per head is significantly low. In fact, you will pay several times less with this method. The money you save can be spent on other things you love to do. Therefore, this option is profitable.

Enjoy the trip

With an expert driver behind the wheel, it will be easier for you to enjoy the sites. Also, you will be able to have the opportunity to socialize with others instead of concentrating on many unimportant things. In fact, traveling with others can be a lot of fun. You’ll meet new people, develop stronger relationships, and even connect with old friends.

Simply put, if you’re looking for the cheapest and most cost-effective way to travel, we suggest you try a charter bus. This will save you money and you will have a lot of fun. Hopefully these are enough to help you make the best choice.

Digital Marketing

The structure of your business plan

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Your business plan is vital to establishing the structure of your business, your goals and objectives, strategies, products, and people. It is used to plan and manage your business, apply for financing or show it to potential investors. It has ten main parts and these are:

1. Cover and index

It sounds a bit silly, but a great cover page for your business plan will show the professionalism and care that has gone into its production. It’s also the ideal place to include your company logo and contact details. If applicable, include photos of your products.

It is critical that you also include your company name and number, as well as your contact details such as address, website, social media accounts, and your relevant manager’s email and phone number. You will be surprised how many people forget about this feature.

To help potential investors navigate, the index should include all business plan items with the corresponding page number. Make it as complete as possible so that the reader has a clear idea of ​​what the document contains.

However, producing the table of contents also gives you, the writer, a great planning tool to make sure you include all the points and information you need to include.

2. Executive summary with the needs and objectives of your business

In the first part of the document you must make a descriptive summary of the idea that includes the following points:

• The opportunity in the market

• The product or service and its advantages

• The management team

• Financial summary of financing needs and expected profitability

By writing the executive summary first, you put all the information that is in your head. You can always return to it at the end of your main body wiring.

Remember, you must capture the attention of investors in approximately two pages where you will summarize the most important points of the text. You should also keep several things in mind:

• It is vital that you define the need or problem that your business intends to solve.

• It is necessary to define the fundamental objectives of the company.

• You must tell the investor what stage your business is currently in. Whether you’re in pre-production, starting to expand, or in profit, for example.

3. Plan your business

Here is the point where you take out your scratch paper.

• You must describe the mission of your company: that is what you hope to achieve. Next, you need a list of actions your business needs to get to this point.

• Next, you must determine how you will solve the business problems you have identified.

• Now describe what your product or service is, what customers will get with their purchase and what are its weaknesses or drawbacks.

• Find out what price point your potential customers will be comfortable with.

• Finally, you need to figure out how you can find these customers.

Often all of this can be defined through the use of a business model canvas and this is the subject of another of my articles. You can buy consultancy to produce this model.

In general, there are already companies that are working for the same objectives. Identify them and ask yourself: How am I going to differentiate myself from my competitors?

4. Explain the structure of your business

Making a business plan involves examining the strengths and weaknesses of your competition, once identified you can justify why your business is unique. You need to stand out from the crowd to increase the investment opportunity. That is, see the following information:

• Describe what you will sell to whom and at what price.

• Present your brand concepts: will you be a luxury company, for example, or sell it as a cheap company?

• Describe how you will fulfill a request; in other words, the entire process, from the purchase of the products to the actual delivery to your customer and the post-service offer.

• Clarify how you will cover the major areas of production, sales, marketing, finance, and administration.

• Include management accounts, sales, stock control and quality control.

• Define how you will sell your products and analyze, if necessary, the location of the company and the advantages and disadvantages of this situation.

Be sure to answer the following questions from investors: What are your competition’s products and how do they create them?

5. List the characteristics of the market in which you will develop your business

You will need to analyze the market conditions: how big it is, how fast it is growing, and what your profit potential is. Explain how you are going to research your audience and with what tools.

Know the target of the market in which the business will develop and direct marketing strategies towards that target. If you don’t have a marketing strategy that works, you will waste time, effort, and money.

Answer the following question: Where are you going to find your customers?

6. Forex Promotion Strategies

This is where your business marketing plan should be included. It is perhaps one of the most important steps when making a business plan. Promotional and marketing strategies could determine the success or failure of your company. Try to answer several questions:

• How are you going to position your product or service? This is where you want the 4 P’s of marketing: price, product, promotion, and place.

• Compare features like price, quality, and customer service with your competitors.

• How will you sell to your customers? Telephone, website, face-to-face, agents?

• How will you identify potential customers?

• How will you promote your business? Advertising, PR, email marketing, content strategy, social media, etc.?

• What benefit will each part of your business achieve?

• Why would someone abandon your current competitors to buy into your business?

• How will you attract them to your company and your products?

• What is a fair estimate of the number of clients you will get each year for the first three years?

• What will be your estimate of the cost of reaching each new customer?

• What is the estimated cost of retaining each customer?

7. Define your source of income

This is where you put all the information about what your business will sell and where the source of income will come from.

• The products and services you will provide.

• Any advertising fees, commissions, membership fees, etc. you will receive.

The analysis must include: price structure, costs, margins and expenses.

Include details of your anticipated cash flow for the first three years. Cash flow is an important consideration. In web-based companies it is known as the consumption rate.

8. Your team

This is where you get lyrical about the strength of your directors and core staff. Include their experience in similar posts and what they can do for your start-up business. Include base resumes for each of them and state their responsibilities. If you have a particularly well-known supporter, mentor, or director, this is where you mention them.

9. Your finances

When you get to this point when making your business plan you should start translating everything you have said into numbers. That is, analyze the financial forecasts of your business. Also include your financial strategy: how you will manage your cash flow, vital for any new business. Without a plan, the business could suddenly go under or fail. If, on the other hand, you receive unexpected success, your objectives may suddenly change and you will need a new business plan. Therefore, you need to assess the risks to your business, identify areas where something could go wrong, and explain what you would do in that case. You must include any other investments you have or will receive. Details of your stock allocations, particularly large percentages, should be included.

9. What are you going to do with the investment?

Very important, include what you are seeking financing for and how and when you plan to spend the investment. It is vital that the potential investor sees that the company will be greatly improved by the investment.

Indicate how soon and how often the potential investor will see a return on their investment. Also include the shares offered, as well as your possible stake in the company after you have invested.

It is vital that they are offered an exit strategy so that they can have a good return on their investment and then move on to the next new company.

10. Appendices

It is very possible that after making the business plan you need to provide additional information to complement it. For example:

• Data from market studies that you have used.

• Summaries of the team that will form your company. This is very important if you are looking for high levels of financing.

• Technical specifications of the product or service (may include photographs).

• The names of some potential customers.

Creating a business plan involves writing many pages with attractive, dynamic and precise texts that capture the attention of very demanding people. You must attract the attention of investors, who despite having read hundreds of them must find something unique in your business plan.

Relationship

Spring cleaning our path to health

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Our understanding of the energy of food and eating in harmony with the changing seasons is a sacred pathway to our health and well-being. Our developing consciousness is our greatest asset as we determine which foods and which season of the year will best cleanse and purify us.

I believe it is through understanding the macrobiotic philosophy that reveals the spring season as the optimal time for cleansing, as well as which foods are most purifying and cleansing for us.

For the past 2,000 years, Catholics and Christians have used Lent (during the time period from Ash Wednesday in April to Easter in May) as a time of purification. This was a disciplined mandatory event, in which one was supposed to “quit” or sacrifice something in the form of fasting.

Based on my study of Macrobiotics, a 5,000-year-old philosophy of the natural order of the universe, I think I found a reason for this tradition. I believe that this period of fasting and purification occurred naturally due to the scarcity of food during the spring season. Long ago, we would harvest what we could in the fall (September, October, November), eat our bounty during the winter (December, January, February) and in the spring (March, April, May), we were mostly out of food. . So it was natural to fast until the greens began to sprout again.

Macrobiotics is the study of the order of the universe as an infinite vibratory energy of infinity manifested as yin and yang. Think in a circle.

A circle shows the ever-changing cycle of extreme contraction yang force of winter, rising yin energy of spring, extreme expansion yin force of summer, initial descending yang energy of late summer, and descending yang energy. out of everything

Spring is an upward energy that provides a natural moment of cleansing. It’s the time of year when people have more colds, flus and allergies, as the body tries to cleanse itself naturally. I suggest allowing this cleansing process to take its natural course. I believe that suppressing it with drugs not only makes a lot of money for doctors and pharmaceutical companies, but also deprives the body of natural healing, which eventually results in a worsening of the condition.

The liver and gallbladder in our body are the organs most strongly influenced by the rising spring energies. If one were to superimpose the circle of five (5) transformations on the human body, the liver and gallbladder, which are just below the right ribcage, would be represented by the rising spring energy located at the top of the circle.

We often hear about cleansing and purifying the liver. This is easily accomplished by eating plenty of sprouts and greens, which are the most beneficial. You absorb the energy of sprouting plants, a manifestation of the rising energy of the earth in the spring, and you will purify yourself.

The purification process involves cleansing our bodies of the stagnant fatty, oily, and heavy foods of winter. Feelings of a bad temper and anger during the winter are signs of an imbalance of the liver. Frequent complaints are signs of a gallbladder imbalance. We are generally more rigid and move less. Although we need the extra fat to insulate us from the cold in winter, we don’t need the excess. The excess is generally stored in the liver, usually in the form of toxins, which manifest psychologically as anger and short temper. In health, the liver is strong and vital, manifesting as patience and endurance. As we cleanse ourselves in spring with the energy of foods like dandelions, chives, and chives, we rid the body of unwanted fats, toxins, and compacted or contracted foods. Spring is a beginning time for activation, for the movement of the vital force called “chi”, “ki” or “prana”.

The following foods, mainly from ascending earth energy, help to release the stagnation we experience during the winter season and enhance the necessary activation during the spring season:

o Grains planted in late fall and harvested in the spring, such as soft spring wheat or barley, are energetically beneficial.

o Naturally acidic or fermented foods that break down and break down through bacteria are harnessing the rising energy of the earth and can therefore give us more vitality. These include foods like sauerkraut, quick pickled vegetables, rice vinegar, and umeboshi plum.

o Newly formed leafy greens like cress and especially mustard greens, lamb’s quarters, dandelion greens, and daikon greens are vibrant in the spring. Definitely such power plants are beneficial.

o Sprouts, such as mung beans, alfalfa sprouts, and broccoli sprouts, have an upward energy that helps us cleanse.

o Seaweeds that flow up in the intertidal pool, such as wakame and dulse, not only provide us with various macro and microelements, but also excellent flexibility.

o Sweeteners such as maple syrup produced by the upward movement of sap in maple trees are best in the spring.

As for cooking: Lightly cooking, sautéing, blanching, or quickly boiling leafy greens with sprouts is the way to go in the spring. Try these beneficial dishes.

Nabe Cooking – This dish is always a hit as part of our Friday night dinners. In a ceramic or metal Japanese decorative Nabe pot or a large simple pot with a lid, add the following:

2-3 cups of fresh water,

A 4-inch piece of wakame seaweed,

4 shitake mushrooms, chopped

A good splash of Nama Shoyu, a quality soy sauce.

Note: To keep the liquid in the pot warm, use a small butane stove.

Now finely chop or leave 5-6 of any of the following foods whole:

Alfalfa sprouts

broccoli sprouts

chives

broccoli florets

cauliflower florets

Mustard leaves

chives

Lion teeth

mung bean sprouts

julienne cut carrots

kale

leeks

Fungus

Small Napa chips

fried tempeh

Peas

Chinese cabbage

green head cabbage

Peas.

small cubes of tofu

Thinly sliced ​​pumpkin Etc. etc.

Very thin sheets of seitan

Watercress

Arrange them in a large platter with strips or chopsticks for dinner friends to use while dipping selected foods into the Nabe pot of simmering broth. You can’t get anything else freshly cooked! Tremendous vitality will be received from the freshness of the rising food and the rising energy of the steam.

What combination!

Serve with a cereal mix:

Rinse and soak overnight 1/3 cup sweet rice, 1/3 cup whole wheat berries, and 1/3 cup whole barley.

Place 1 cup of beans and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Add a pinch of Celtic sea salt. Cover with the lid of the pressure cooker. Over medium-high heat, bring to pressure.

Let simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.

Release the pressure or allow the pressure to drop slowly.

Serve piping hot with spring onions or scallions.

NOTE: Start with the grain mix first and then move on to chopping the vegetables for Nabe Cooking.

Enjoy this refreshing spring dish anytime!

For a quick breakfast dish, try this:

Scrambled Tofu with Dulse Toast and Quick Pickled Vegetables:

First, finely chop one cup of Napa, one cup of bok choy, one cup of kale, and grate one carrot. “Sweat” in a pot by kneading with 4 tablespoons of Celtic Sea Salt. Place a plate and a heavy object on top to press down on the vegetables. Set aside.

Crumble and toast dulse in a skillet. This takes about 2 minutes.

In the same hot pan, add olive oil and finely chopped chives or a sweet vadalia onion with chives or dill. Sauté thirty (30) seconds, then add a block of tofu squeezed between your fingers.

Stir quickly like scrambled eggs.

Serve all three immediately.

ENJOY!

David Snieckus graduated from the world-renowned Kushi Institute and has been practicing Macrobiotics since 1977. His passion is sharing his knowledge and experience and invoking self-awareness in others so they can experience optimal health and happiness.

Health Fitness

Using gymnastic rings to train for rock climbing

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Gymnastic rings are an incredibly versatile training tool for rock climbing. While they won’t train your finger strength, they do work many important muscles, including your arms, shoulders, back, and core. They also build a high strength-to-weight ratio, which is important for both gymnasts and climbers.

I bought my own pair of rings four years ago and haven’t gone back to conventional weight training since. Not only do they provide a great workout, but they’re also more fun to use than free weights. In fact, I’ve found that the rings target more muscle groups at once and build strength more efficiently than traditional weight lifting.

You can use rings for push-ups, pull-ups, pull-ups, leg raises, barbells, and more. Additionally, the inherently unstable nature of the rings requires all muscles to work together, so your entire upper body is activated rather than isolating just one muscle at a time.

John Gill, the “father of modern bouldering”, was a trained and trained ring gymnast throughout his life. He was famous for his one-arm pull-ups with front levers. These powerful moves allowed him to excel at bouldering like no one had before him.

While there are many other important aspects of climbing that you need to focus on as well, incorporating some ring training can efficiently increase your overall strength and could well find a way to incorporate it into your regular climbing training.

first steps with rings

Gymnastics rings are easy to set up and get started. Although movements performed on them can be extremely difficult, the rings themselves are a simple device. The popularity of rings as a training tool outside of the gym has been on the rise.

You don’t need the professional setup that gymnasts use; Most basic rings consist of a nylon strap running through the ring with a buckle at the end. They can be easily purchased online, and for the amount of versatility and training they provide, they are also quite cheap. Setup is simple, simply loop the strap over a beam, branch, or other horizontal post and fasten the buckle. The rings can then be lowered for push-ups or raised for pull-ups and dips.

Exercises on gymnastic rings.

While there are many advanced moves that can be performed on the rings, I will limit myself to describing the moves that can most directly help with rock climbing training. At the most basic level, the rings can simply be used for pull-ups. If you don’t have a pull-up bar available, then rings are great!

muscles

One of the first advanced tricks to learn is the muscle up. Muscle ups work your chest, arms, back, and core…pretty much everything! They start from a standstill on the rings and proceed as a pull-up. However, when you reach the top of the pull, you continue to push yourself up to the dip position. Done correctly, it looks smooth and easy, but don’t be fooled! Chances are the first time you try it you’ll end up wobbling and shaking.

If you are successful, your arms will most likely shake uncontrollably as you try to hold on. I have taught many people muscle exercises, and every one of them struggled and wobbled the first few times! It really makes you appreciate how many different muscles gymnastics rings target.

Technique is very important when attempting a muscle up. It’s important to use a false grip, where your wrist rests on top of the ring, to easily go from pulling up to pushing into a dip. Practice your dips and pull-ups separately until you can transition from one to the other into a successful muscle up.

hanging leg raises

Leg lifts are my main workout. They can be done on a lot of things, from pull-up bars to railings, but my favorite is the leg raise from a dip position on the rings. Not only does it give your abs a great workout, but it also challenges your back, chest, and arms to stabilize yourself in the process.

As a warning, these are hard to make. They first require that you be able to do muscle ups and dips. However, once you’ve achieved that, try leg raises. Remember to keep your back straight and your elbows locked as you raise your legs as high as you can. Mentally focus on contracting your abs as much as possible to get the most out of it.

Hanging knee raises are also valuable. Performing them in rings adds so much difficulty that most of the time I do these instead of the whole leg. After a few sets my abs are on fire and my arms and chest are banged up. That is a good exercise!

front levers

Front stick is a difficult skill to master. It involves holding your body horizontally from a bar or rings. This requires incredible strength in the arms, back, and core, making it an ideal climbing exercise. John Gill performed this one-handed skill… now that requires a lot of strength!

The strength that the front levers build is excellent for climbing training. To perform one, hang from the rings with your arms straight. Then raise your body until it is horizontal to the ground. The hard part is keeping your body straight!

It will be impossible to do a full front lever the first time you try it. Instead, you’ll have to work your way up to the full lever in stages. Start in the normal lever position, but pull your knees in and keep them tucked into your chest. After you can hold that position for thirty seconds, slowly progress to keeping your legs flat. Keep your back flat and lock your elbows.

When you get close to full lever you can try an exercise called ice cream makers. Hang in the pull-up position and lift up to the forward lever position, hold briefly, then lower back down. Sets of these will help improve your leverage.

more possibilities

These are the main exercises for which I use gymnastic rings. There are many more great strength moves in the rings, like the iron cross and plank, but the strength these require doesn’t help you climb well enough to justify training them. However, if you have the desire, there are hundreds of ring movement variations that you can find.

If you’re looking for a chest workout, one of my favorites is the archer pushup. To do this, lower the rings to the floor and get into the pushup position. Extend one right arm out to the side as you lower yourself with the other arm. Push up and alternate arms. This is basically a one-arm assisted push-up and requires much more strength than regular push-ups. The rings also allow for the added challenge of coming down below the hands, allowing for a greater range of motion. For more difficulty, try raising your feet behind you; this adds weight to your push up.

The iron cross is one of the most famous ring movements. It is about holding yourself in the air with your arms extended horizontally. This is a much more difficult move and takes a long time to develop. Care must be taken when training for it because the movement puts a lot of stress on the shoulders and elbows. It’s easy to insult yourself if your technique is wrong, so be careful if you try it.

In general, small workouts on gymnastic rings can be used very successfully in a climbing training regiment. The bulk of your training should still be climbing and finger strength, but the rings provide a great opportunity to build core strength. They are a very efficient exercise due to the stabilization required, and only a few sets a week will show results. Give them a try and see how much easier overhangs, lockups, and stabilization become!

Legal Law

How do I know when the time is right to change jobs?

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That is not an easy question to answer. After all, a new job could bring you a higher salary, more authority, more responsibility, a better chance for promotion, even a better work environment. On the other hand, making a move for the wrong reason can send you down a treacherous path and away from your ultimate goal.

Consider the stories of two former clients. Their names are changed, but their stories are true. Jim Peters dreamed of becoming a Sales Manager for a national construction company. After spending five years as a salesperson for a Georgia-based construction company, he thinks it’s time to move on. He feels underpaid and sees no room to move forward. After quietly talking to a few local companies (who are hiring vendors with his level of experience), he takes a higher-paying job at an architecture firm.

Four years later, Jim is ready to move again. Although he enjoys his boss, the job is more difficult than his previous job and the chances for promotion are non-existent. What’s worse, the 10% raise Jim engineered on changing jobs was also paid to his successor at his old construction sales job.

Disenchanted with architecture sales, Jim opts to return to construction sales. Learning that Washington, DC is one of the most popular construction markets, Jim starts looking there. But no firm is willing to raise his salary because his architectural sales experience is worthless. A company offers a job without a salary increase. Jim agrees, rationalizing that there will be an opportunity to move on later. Jim moves to Washington. But disappointment arises a few years later when his long-awaited promotion does not materialize. Jim eventually buys a fast food franchise with his brother-in-law.

Bill Doyle, an valedictorian civil engineering student, dreams of leading a design team for one of the nation’s leading engineering firms designing luxury hotels. But no civil engineering firm hires at his university. His resumes do not generate interviews from his target employers. Instead, upon graduation, he settles for an offer from a local utility company.

Three years later, Bill learns of the exceptional salaries civil engineers earn in the Texas oil fields. This time, submitting a resume leads to an offer and a 25% salary increase with a major oil company. Bill dicks. Five years later, the oil slump hits and Bill is fired. After six months of searching, he finds a job designing pulp and paper plants for a 20% pay cut. Eventually, Bill finds his way back into hotel design, as an individual designer, not a manager, for a rather boring national chain of hotels.

Unfortunately, both Jim and Bill made fundamental and common mistakes. They were willing to change jobs for better offers, but their moves never moved them toward their ultimate career goals. The end result was a lot of movement that did not lead to the desired destination.

Don’t let the same thing happen to your career goals. With some basic career planning, you can find the right jobs and know when to accept the right offers.

The following career planning method uses straightforward common sense. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity. The difficulty comes in the execution. You will need discipline, self-assessment and commitment.

A safe two-step plan

My advice boils down to two points: adopt a career goal, and then develop plans to execute it. These two steps allow you, not fate, to control your progress.

Your career goal should be a specific position within a specific industry (ie, you might want to be executive editor for a technical publishing company or chief engineer for a major auto parts manufacturer).

Your work plan will have two elements. Your long-term plan will be a list of all the jobs you must have to reach your career goal. This plan should include not only the titles of the positions, but also all the skills and experience necessary for each position. Your short-term work plan will list the skills and experience needed to move up to the next rung of the ladder.

For most of us, there are no shortcuts. Only with a goal in mind can you know when you have arrived. Only with a plan can you be sure that you will arrive on time, or at all.

To choose an appropriate goal, candidly assess your experience, skills, interests, strengths, weaknesses, enthusiasms, and dislikes. If you find self-assessment difficult, ask a close friend for help or consult a career counselor. Once you have a clear picture of how you work best, you can select a career goal that fits your character.

ask, ask

Try to get an idea of ​​the day-to-day reality of the position you are applying for. Research is paramount here. Spend time in the library. Read relevant books and magazines. Talk to executive recruiters. They know what it takes to thrive in a given role. As you begin to clarify your goal, interview people who have achieved it. Find out if he really wants his responsibilities and hard work. (Either way, it’s best to know ahead of time.)

To start establishing your roadmap, ask your role models how they got promoted to their current positions. Record your career histories and consider the composite result a very rough roadmap. You cannot follow their advice to the letter, because the career landscape is always changing slightly. For example, foreign languages ​​may become important as your business or industry becomes more international. You may need expertise in a process or technology that didn’t exist when your mentors were in your era.

So, be sure to ask your role models two additional questions: What qualifications was your successor expected to have, and what skills did you lack, but wish you had, when you started this job? As you begin to see the path to your goal, interview the people who have positions on your path. The better you understand what awaits you, the better you can meet the challenge.

When you are ready to go ahead with your plan, time becomes of the essence. You should look for each new job as soon as you are prepared to succeed in it. Moving before you have the skills and confidence can be disastrous for your career and business. Also, there is no need to move too early or too high just because a great opportunity arrives prematurely. There are always opportunities for outstanding talent.

Similarly, there is no professional benefit to staying at your current job once you’ve prepared for another. Loyalty and stagnation are two different things. As soon as you’re ready for more responsibility, seek it out. As you progress, stay on top of changes in your industry. Changes in regulations, technology, and business conditions have the potential to alter both your route and your destination. Stay flexible and regularly review your plans and goals.

Keep a high profile

Your reputation within an industry is very influential in getting interviews and securing new positions. Never assume that doing a good job is enough. It’s just a good start. The best way to build your reputation (and keep up with the job market) is to be active in a trade association. Serve on a committee in your area of ​​interest, write articles for your group’s newspaper, and agree to speak when invited. These initiatives announce your commitment to your field.

Cultivate a network of successful people within your industry. Make it clear that you respect their achievements and want to emulate them. Most people will be flattered and happy to help. This network will provide an early warning of the best vacancies, which are rarely advertised.

If you have the choice, it’s better to stay employed and find out about job openings through your network than to quit your job and work as a detective full time. Your appeal as a successful employee is worth far more than the extra hours spent on shopping.

To review, effective career management requires a goal, a plan, and good timing. Pick a goal that is worthwhile but achievable. Develop a plan based on in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of the industry. Look for your next job as soon as you have the skill and confidence to move on. Do these things consistently and well. You will realize your true professional potential.

Lifestyle Fashion

Betrayal and estrangement between siblings in dysfunctional families

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Recently, I found myself sitting with a patient, Elsa, who was crying uncontrollably in my office. It turns out that her sister had stolen her inheritance. However, it wasn’t the loss of her money that was devastating her; It was the shocking betrayal of her only brother.

Elsa’s sister, Joyce, had gotten her dying mother to change her will at the last minute, leaving everything to her. Her mother had been ill for a long time and Joyce had found a way to convince her mother that she and not Elsa really needed and deserved her substantial inheritance.

During our session, Elsa kept saying over and over, “I don’t understand how she could do this. I don’t understand why!” Although they had never been close and had in fact only seen each other at family gatherings for the past few years, Elsa didn’t think there was any animosity between them; certainly not enough to make Joyce do something so horrible.

Even though Elsa was completely confused by her sister’s behavior, I understood it very well, as it represented a pattern of sibling behavior that I had observed many times before. I have heard dozens of similar stories in which one adult sibling takes on another, shocking and horrifying the person who would never have expected her sibling to stoop so low. The betrayal almost always had to do with inheritance money, and it always stemmed from a particular type of family dynamic.

Elsa and Joyce had grown up with parents who were extremely involved in the successful family business and very neglectful of both. From an early age, the girls had had to learn to fend for themselves. Elsa was two years older than Joyce and had almost assumed a motherly role with her, helping Joyce with her homework and listening to her hopes and fears. Despite this, they were not very close growing up; having very separate activities and groups of friends.

When they got married, they became even more distant, but they were always cordial when they saw each other at parties and family events. That’s why Elsa was so surprised by Joyce’s seemingly inexplicable behavior around her will. What Elsa couldn’t know is how siblings from dysfunctional families tend to end up at odds with each other.

A dysfunctional family is one in which there is abuse, neglect, or both. Adults may not get along and expose their children to terrible arguments or even physical fights. Rather, parents can be allies who care for and protect each other at the expense of their children.

In a dysfunctional family, the parents are inadequate or abusive. As a result, there is not enough love available for children. Sometimes there is no love at all. This sets up an unconscious competition between the children for whatever love might be available. During childhood, a child may curry favor with one or both parents in an attempt to gain their attention. They are simply doing everything they can to survive in an environment deficient in the emotional necessities of life.

Joyce was one of these children. Despite confessing to Elsa on numerous occasions how much she despised her parents, all around her was sweetness personified. Elsa had a different way of coping, preferring to find emotional support from her teachers at school, her friends, and her extended family.

As they grew older, Joyce maintained a closer connection to her parents, while Elsa had moved to another city and sought fulfillment in her new family and a meaningful career.

What Elsa didn’t realize, as she went on with her life, was that Joyce secretly resented her for receiving more than her fair share of her parents’ love. Although this wasn’t true at all—neither of the two girls had actually received love—Joyce had convinced herself that since she hadn’t been loved properly, Elsa must have been the one to receive all the love in the family. .

Psychologically, this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that, even for an adult, it is extremely painful to face the truth that your parents did not love you (enough). It’s easier to blame your brother, accusing him of taking all the love available and leaving you with nothing. Paradoxically, it is the individuals who went out of their way as children to curry favor with those who most often feel this way, as opposed to those who sought emotional fulfillment elsewhere.

In a dysfunctional family where none of the children get their emotional needs met, there is often a child, like Joyce, who does everything she can to get her parents to pay more attention to her. This child establishes a competition between them and one or more siblings. Even if the other brothers are not aware of the competition, they have entered it by default. Whenever the actively competitive sister (Joyce) feels deprived of love, she imagines that her passive competition (Elsa) has stolen it from her.

The problem is that no matter what, currying favor with the parents is a dead-end proposition: if the parents ignore the girl, then she feels even more hurt and deprived of love; if the parents pay more attention to the child, the child feels in the depths of her being that real love is not coming to them yet, but rather an attention born of the parents’ own interest.

Joyce had decided (consciously or unconsciously) that since she had never felt loved despite all her attempts to get love, it must have been Elsa who had received all the love from the parents. Her resentment seeped into her for many years until her father passed away and her mother lay dying in her hospice bed. Elsa hadn’t visited very often because when she did, her mother would only talk about how wonderful Joyce was. It was clear to Elsa that she and her mother were completely unrelated and, apart from doing the right thing by visiting her once in a while, Elsa wasn’t interested in spending time with a virtual stranger.

No matter how much her mother praised Joyce and ignored Elsa, however, Joyce felt like the deprived child and saw Elsa as the “bratty one.” Elsa, on the other hand, because she had given up on actually getting her parents’ love from her years ago, didn’t feel like she was competing with Joyce, and although somewhat distanced from her, she didn’t feel resentment or hostility towards Joyce’s sister. she.

Paradoxically, the child who is most capable of acknowledging that their parents do not have enough (or any) love to give ends up somewhat better, because they are not constantly frustrated in their attempts to get it, and they are not expending energy, competing with their parents. brothers for it.

As her last remaining parent was dying, Joyce panicked. The prospect of her losing her mother also meant losing the last chance to finally win her parents’ love. Her anxiety quickly turned to despair, and her growing resentment toward her sister finally erupted into her betrayal of Elsa.

Money is often the substance that becomes the substitute for parental love, and it was no different for Joyce. Faced with the prospect of losing the opportunity to receive her mother’s love, she unconsciously transferred her need for parental love to the need for parental money. In her desperation for her love, she found a way to convince her mother to give Joyce the money. Taking it all was meant to psychologically remedy her feelings of deprivation and jealousy toward her sister.

Unfortunately, this is also a no-win situation. Elsa feels deeply hurt and even more disconnected from her sister, and Joyce, whether she realizes it or not, she will never find happiness and fulfillment with her mother’s money. In reality, there is no way she can make up for the love that she was never there.

In a dysfunctional family where the natural resource of love is scarce or absent, children end up in default competition for this necessity of life. Sadly, this turning of former allies and best friends into competitors is the inevitable result of the dysfunctional family, and the classic low point often comes when the last chance for love is about to disappear.

In a panic, the actively competing adult girl (in this case, Joyce) enacts a terrible betrayal of her passive competitor (Elsa), stealing the money that has come to replace lost love. The betrayal serves to destroy any tenuous connection that might have been there, driving the brothers apart forever.

This tragic outcome demonstrates that the legacy of the dysfunctional family is not only the emotional trauma caused by parental abuse or neglect, but also, and significantly, a toxic disruption of the normal loving bonds that parents would otherwise share. siblings.

(C) Marcia Sirota MD 2010